The present invention relates to a carburetion means for an internal combustion engine. More particularly, the invention relates to a fuel vaporization chamber which operates on the vacuum provided by the engine to provide a homogenous vaporized fuel/air mixture to the engine cylinders.
Standard internal combustion engines rely upon a pressure differential to move the fuel/air mixture into the combustion chamber associated with each cylinder. During the intake stroke of the piston of a conventional engine, the piston recedes in the cylinder bore and the inlet valve is simultaneously opened at the inlet port to admit the fuel/air mixture. The receding piston creates a partial vacuum in the combustion chamber and throughout the intake manifold. This vacuum draws air through the carburetor where, in the typical jet-type carburetor, liquid fuel droplets are sprayed into the passing air to create a misty fuel/air mixture.
The nature and quality of the combustion of the fuel/air mixture in the combustion chamber depends upon numerous factors. One of the most significant of these factors is the degree to which the fuel droplets released by the carburetor are atomized and eventually vaporized on their way to the combustion chamber. Ideally, the fuel/air mixture in the combustion chamber should be in a gaseous state--an ideal usually not attainable by a conventional jet-type carburetor. Fuel in a liquid state, suspended in the combustion chamber as a mist or droplets, will not ignite and yield energy as effectively as totally vaporized, gaseous fuel. Such unvaporized fuel does not burn completely during the combustion stroke of the cylinders. Instead, such unburned fuel is expelled into the exhaust system where it continues to burn, heating the engine and requiring surplus pollution control devices.
Vaporizing carburetion devices have been proposed in the prior art to overcome the deficiencies of the conventional jet-type carburetor. To achieve total vaporization, prior art carburetion devices have been developed which provide a reservoir of fuel through which atmospheric air is bubbled to produce a vapor in the reservoir above the fuel level. The vapor thus produced is drawn into the engine by the engine vacuum.
Some such carburetion devices provide the benefit of truly vaporized fuel but all perform inconsistently and are cumbersome on a moving engine. For example, if mounted on a typical automobile, such a carburetion device provides inconsistent operation because the motion of the automobile results in splashing and surging of the fuel within the reservoir. Furthermore, such devices tend to be cumbersome because a large surface area of fuel is required in the reservoir to accomplish effective vaporization.